*gang*

‖n. [ G. ] A spiritual or ghostly double or counterpart; esp., an apparitional double of a living person; a cowalker. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ G. doppelgänger; doppel double + gänger walker. ] An apparition or double of a living person; a doppelgänger.

Either you are Hereward, or you are his doubleganger. C. Kingsley. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Prop., a goer before cf. G. voregänger. See Fore, and Gang. ] (Naut.) A short rope grafted on a harpoon, to which a longer line may be attached. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ AS. gangan, akin to OS. & OHG. gangan, Icel. ganga, Goth. gaggan; cf. Lith. żengti to walk, Skr. ja&ndot_;gha leg. √48. Cf. Go. ] To go; to walk. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Obsolete in English literature, but still used in the North of England, and also in Scotland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Icel. gangr a going, gang, akin to AS., D., G., & Dan. gang a going, Goth. gaggs street, way. See Gang, v. i. ] 1. A going; a course. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A number going in company; hence, a company, or a number of persons associated for a particular purpose; a group of laborers under one foreman; a squad; as, a gang of sailors; a chain gang; a gang of thieves. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A combination of similar implements arranged so as, by acting together, to save time or labor; a set; as, a gang of saws, or of plows. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Naut.) A set; all required for an outfit; as, a new gang of stays. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. [ Cf. Gangue. ] (Mining) The mineral substance which incloses a vein; a matrix; a gangue. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A group of teenagers or young adults forming a more or less formalized group associating for social purposes, in some cases requiring initiation rites to join; as, a teen gang; a youth gang; a street gang. Youth gangs often associate with particular areas in a city, and may turn violent when they feel their territory is encroached upon. In Los Angeles the Crips and the Bloods are large gangs antagonistic to each other. [ PJC ]

7. A group of persons organized for criminal purposes; a criminal organization; as, the Parker gang. [ PJC ]

Gang board, or
Gang plank. (Naut.) (a) A board or plank, with cleats for steps, forming a bridge by which to enter or leave a vessel. (b) A plank within or without the bulwarks of a vessel's waist, for the sentinel to walk on. --
Gang cask, a small cask in which to bring water aboard ships or in which it is kept on deck. --
Gang cultivator,
Gang plow, a cultivator or plow in which several shares are attached to one frame, so as to make two or more furrows at the same time. --
Gang days, Rogation days; the time of perambulating parishes. See Gang week (below). --
Gang drill, a drilling machine having a number of drills driven from a common shaft. --
Gang master, a master or employer of a gang of workmen. --
Gang plank. See Gang board (above). --
Gang plow. See Gang cultivator (above). --
Gang press, a press for operating upon a pile or row of objects separated by intervening plates. --
Gang saw, a saw fitted to be one of a combination or gang of saws hung together in a frame or sash, and set at fixed distances apart. --
Gang tide. See Gang week (below). --
Gang tooth, a projecting tooth. [ Obs. ] Halliwell. --
Gang week, Rogation week, when formerly processions were made to survey the bounds of parishes. Halliwell. --
Live gang, or
Round gang, the Western and the Eastern names, respectively, for a gang of saws for cutting the round log into boards at one operation. Knight. --
Slabbing gang, an arrangement of saws which cuts slabs from two sides of a log, leaving the middle part as a thick beam. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a temporary bridge for getting on and off a vessel at dockside.
Syn. -- gangplank, gang plank, gangway. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. criminal organizations, collectively.
Syn. -- organized crime, gangland. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Ganged p. pr. & vb. n. Ganging ] [ Of uncertain origin. ] 1. To protect (the part of a line next a fishhook, or the hook itself) by winding it with wire. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. To attach (a fishhook) to a line or snell, as by knotting the line around the shank of the hook. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. One who oversees a gang of workmen. [ R. ] Mayhew. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Pertaining to, or inhabiting, the Ganges River; as, the Gangetic shark. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) The common English milkwort (Polygala vulgaris), so called from blossoming in gang week. Dr. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] A short line attached to a trawl. See Trawl, n.

{ } a. (Anat.) Relating to a ganglion; ganglionic.

{ } a. (Anat.) Furnished with ganglia; as, the gangliated cords of the sympathetic nervous system.

{ } a. [ Ganglion + -form. ] (Anat.) Having the form of a ganglion. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. L. Ganglia E. Ganglions [ L. ganglion a sort of swelling or excrescence, a tumor under the skin, Gr. &unr_;: cf. F. ganglion. ] 1. (Anat.) (a) A mass or knot of nervous matter, including nerve cells, usually forming an enlargement in the course of a nerve. (b) A node, or gland in the lymphatic system; as, a lymphatic ganglion. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) A globular, hard, indolent tumor, situated somewhere on a tendon, and commonly formed by the effusion of a viscid fluid into it; -- called also weeping sinew. [ 1913 Webster ]

Ganglion cell, a nerve cell. See Illust. under Bipolar. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. ganglionnarie. ] (Anat.) Ganglionic. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. ganglionique. ] (Anat.) Pertaining to, containing, or consisting of, ganglia or ganglion cells; as, a ganglionic artery; the ganglionic columns of the spinal cord. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. Gang, v. i. ] Wandering; vagrant. [ Scot. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To gangrene. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. gangrène, L. gangraena, fr. Gr. &unr_;, fr. &unr_; to gnaw, eat; cf. Skr. gras, gar, to devour, and E. voracious, also canker, n., in sense 3. ] (Med.) A term formerly restricted to mortification of the soft tissues which has not advanced so far as to produce complete loss of vitality; but now applied to mortification of the soft parts in any stage. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. & i. [ imp. & p. p. Gangrened p. pr. & vb. n. Gangrening. ] [ Cf. F. gangréner. ] To produce gangrene in; to be affected with gangrene. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tending to mortification or gangrene. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. gangréneux. ] Affected by, or produced by, gangrene; of the nature of gangrene. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. gangue, fr. G. gang a metallic vein, a passage. See Gang, n. ] (Mining) The mineral or earthy substance associated with metallic ore. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Gang, v. i. ] 1. A passage or way into or out of any inclosed place; esp., a temporary way of access formed of planks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. In the English House of Commons, a narrow aisle across the house, below which sit those who do not vote steadly either with the government or with the opposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) The opening through the bulwarks of a vessel by which persons enter or leave it. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Naut.) That part of the spar deck of a vessel on each side of the booms, from the quarter-deck to the forecastle; -- more properly termed the waist. Totten. [ 1913 Webster ]

Gangway ladder, a ladder rigged on the side of a vessel at the gangway. --
To bring to the gangway, to punish (a seaman) by flogging him at the gangway. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Hetero- + gangliate. ] (Physiol.) Having the ganglia of the nervous system unsymmetrically arranged; -- said of certain invertebrate animals. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Homo- + gangliate. ] (Zool.) Having the ganglia of the nervous system symmetrically arranged, as in certain invertebrates; -- opposed to heterogangliate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Between and uniting the nervous ganglions; as, interganglionic cords. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Ox + gang, n., 1. ] (O. Eng. Law) See Bovate. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Anat.) Surrounding a ganglion; as, the periganglionic glands of the frog. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. Same as Plowgate. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Press gang, under Press. [ 1913 Webster ]